Joe I am very sorry to hear what you are going through and I hope and pray you will be able to beat this. It's a terrible situation that unfortunately has afflicted others as well.
I know a bit about this topic as it is one that I have been involved with since the early 90's. Up until that time people were not too concerned with solvent use and taking the necessary precautions to insure operator safety. These precautions include the use of gloves,
and proper work clothes but also the use of respirators. All too often people were not properly told how to use the solvents and the parts washers or if they had been told, thought wearing the equivalent to a bio hazard safety suit was just total overkill. Unfortunately we are learning that it is required. There was an incident with an employee of a railroad company that used a solvent based parts washer with very little protection that caused severe brain tissue damage. Although the gentleman survived he was no longer able to function without around the clock medical assistance. His life and his family's was forever changed.
Back in 1993 President Clinton signed off on the Montreal Act. That basically told all branches of the government and armed forces that the time to use solvents was coming to an end and set a date in the future where they would not be allowed to be used at all. Even today, some 13+ years later solvents are still be used by the government but in a much smaller and greatly reduced level. Certain branches received exemptions that are slowly expiring but not at the time frame agreed to back in 1993.
Since 1990 I have been involved with a company that produces an alternative to solvents that uses a water based or aqueous cleaning solution. It is not my primary business but one that interests me because it was a way we could provide for a better and safer work enviroment for people who are involved with parts washing and degreasing engine parts as well as the paint prep and printing industries. Without getting into the technical aspects of it, basically water is used with other safe chemicals and is blended to produce a cleaning solution that out performs solvents and has a longer shelf life and does not produce the byproducts that solvent based cleaning products do. We have this formula protected. Initially it is more costly to use as you have to switch out the parts washers but over a period of time it does prove it's cost effectiveness. More importantly it is environmentally friendly and has been approved for use by the EPA thus meaning it will not cause any harm to the enviroment or to the operators using the equipment but they need to follow the proper safety procedures as per our MSDS instructions.
We have spent the last 14 years going to the various branches of the military telling our story and undergoing testing so that we can get the required approvals to market and sell the product for the various applications that we cover. We have tried to go to the private sector too but no one seems to be interested including the company named in the beginning of this thread. All they seem to care about is profit dollars where we are more concerned with Life Safety issues and making sure stories such as Joe's are avoided.
The chemistry is out there to prevent things like this. We have proven that and have the test results and approvals to support it. However these things take time to implement change and it takes a commitment from companies and government to see that the change is made. Since we have been doing this we have spent a considerable amount of time and capital to advance this but we are much like David in his battle with Goliath. Our main reason for doing this is to do what we can to make work environments safer for the people there and in doing so make some business.
Hearing stories like this illuminate the need to see that the change is carried out. We have done our best to do that with the resources we have. We have gone to Capital Hill to testify before Congressional Committees but things just don't move that fast. We spent over 5 years in testing at one facility alone. With the way the Armed Forces are set up, you need to get an approval from every branch. For instance, even though we have approval for use for the Army with their helicopters, that doesn't work for the Air Force, Navy, Air National Guard or Coast Guard for that matter. You need to go and start at the beginning with each branch if you want to do business with them. It's kind of crazy when you look at it but that's the way it goes.
Due to the seriousness of this thread as it is a life safety issue, I wanted to hold off on providing the name of the company I am affiliated with because I don't want it to come across in the wrong manner. Bill asked if there are alternatives to solvents out there and I know for a fact there are. If you wish to learn more about it please PM me and I can direct you to the proper channels. If, after reading this entry to the thread, this board would like to know the name and how to obtain the product I will be glad to post it for everyone to see.
Good luck to you Joe and hope things will turn out for you and your family as well as anyone else who has been exposed to solvents and are suffering ill health as a result.
Tom